Zenith Bank pioneers Account blocking with Code 966911#

Poised to ensure its customers are protected and operate their accounts in a safe and secure environment, Zenith Bank has scored yet another first with the introduction of Account Blocking code 966911#. Already, all banks in the countries have published mobile apps that enable a myriad of transactions such as bills payment, funds transfers, travel bookings and lots more but none have addressed account blocking using (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) USSD code. A statement by the bank at the weekend said customers who suspect their accounts have been compromised, or who lost/misplaced their debit (ATM) cards can dial the Block Account Code 966911# on the phone numbers registered with the account to secure their funds. This has become necessary as the bank plays deeper into the retail end of the banking industry, using its topnotch technology and array of innovative products as it works to deepen financial inclusion in conjunction with regulators of the nation’s financial system regulators. Other codes as part of the Eazy Way banking offered by Zenith Bank include the 966# to ease account opening process by potential customers; while checking account balance has never been easier than dialing *96600#. Customers who desire to reset their Personal Identification Number (PIN), or Password, the bank continued, can do so from the comfort of their homes with 96660#. To update Bank Verification Number (BVN), the statement said customers can dial 966BVN#; and dial 966Amount*MobileNo.# to buy airtime. By dialing *966AmountAccountNo.# for funds transfers. In Nigeria, banks have taken it a bit further by unveiling USSD banking to ensure that the populace that presently does not own smartphones are not cut off and suffer financial exclusion. The USSD is a Global System for Mobile (GSM) communication technology used to send texts between a mobile phone and an application program in the owner network. Zenith Bank is a major promoter of this channel, with the bank betting that its *966#USSD banking solution will help drive the nation’s financial integration programme being championed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Zenith Bank’s *966# USSD banking solution is themed the ‘Easy Way to Bank’ and the solution embodies every word in that statement by enabling people to perform financial transactions on all known mobile phones (Feature, Smartlite or Smart), without having to go on the Net or download a mobile app. A statement from the bank explained that to open a Zenith Bank account, people only need to dial 9660# and follow the prompts. “An account number is automatically generated for the customer and they can start running the account after a short visit to any of the bank’s branches. To perform transactions with the solution, the bank’s customers are required to perform a one-time registration by dialing 96600# and following the prompts,” it said. After registering, customers can easily carry out a myriad of banking activities 24/7, such as account balance inquiries; airtime purchase, funds transfer among others. The transactions can only be performed from the phone number registered against a customer’s account with Zenith Bank and require a four-digit Personal Identification Number for transaction authentication. Motolani Oseni